NFL writer Daniel Kaplan and Executive Editor Abraham Madkour discuss the issues they'll be watching as the NFL opens its 2014 season. Among the topics are the league's emphasis on NFL Now, the continued growth of TV ratings, the potential future in Los Angeles and London, Roger Goodell's surprising mea culpa on discipline for domestic violence issues and Jim Irsay's punishment.

The O.C. Register’s Dan Woike, on Colts Owner Jim Irsay’s suspension and fine: “It's really, really hard to punish billionaires. People want to see a fine that really hits them in the pocketbook. What are you going to fine him, $10 million? It's a weird position to be in” (“Rome,” CBSSN, 9/2). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said, "I am not going to say it is harsh, but he didn't have to get six games. He could have gotten four and nobody would have said anything” ("PTI," ESPN2, 9/2). ESPN’s Jim Trotter: “Anyone who thinks there won’t be some sort of communication behind the scenes is kidding themselves. They probably still believe in the tooth fairy” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 9/3). ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said of the situation which led to Irsay’s suspension, “There may have been some bad intentions. Considering the age he is and some of the problems he’s had in the past, clearly there are issues there that resonate far more than being labeled just irresponsible behavior” (“First Take,”ESPN2, 9/3).

WEAR IT WELL: PGA of America CEO Pete Bevaqua, on players’ reaction to Ralph Lauren-designed U.S. Ryder Cup uniforms: “So far it’s been terrific and what’s been such a pleasure is watching Captain (Tom) Watson work with the Ralph Lauren team … and to see his ideas and his vision come to life” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 9/3).

BE LIKE TOM? Fox Business' Melissa Francis, on Patriots QB TomBrady’s UGG Australian ads: “Whatever it is he's doing, you should do it because he seems to be doing everything right" ("Money With Melissa Francis," Fox Business, 9/2).

CAPITAL ISSUES: Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder, on why some view the team name as a slur: "I think you're going to have some people that feel a certain way, absolutely, and we respect those opinions. But I hope they respect our opinion. The respect needs to be mutual and I hope they do." ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said, "Snyder may have opened a door here when he talked about building a new stadium. Eventually that new stadium will need funding. He can't write the check for the entire amount.” Former NFLer Chris Cooley said, "I don't think the media is well informed at this point and … if you want to be well informed, you spend time actually talking to people and you spend time doing the research. I'm not saying that one person in the media is not well informed. But I'm saying the vast majority of people are not informed" ("Washington's Nickname: An NFL Dilemma," ESPN2, 9/2).

HEAT WAVE: ESPN's Darren Cahill said of the heat at the U.S. Open, "I'm a big fan of the heat policy coming in for the ladies. After the second set, they can take a ten-minute break if they choose to. I'm astounded the men don't get that option playing best-of-five after three sets” ("U.S. Open," ESPN, 9/2).

STAYING PUT: NBCSN's Dave Briggs said of Thunder F Kevin Durant’s new Nike deal, "Not only did Durant get a lot of money to stay at Nike, but he always wanted to be with Nike, always wanted to stay with them” ("Fast Money Halftime Report," CNBC, 9/2).

Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said of MLB, “What’s worked for baseball other than steroids and home run derbies because of it? You just can’t look and say, ‘This is a growth sport.’ You can’t say that people enjoy it more” (“The Dan Patrick Show,” 8/25).

LITTLE BIG LEAGUE: ESPN’s JemeleHill, on access to Little League baseball in inner cities: “The unfortunate reality is in places like Chicago and Detroit, where I'm from, those cities have such economic challenges and just keeping day-to-day city services, keeping the city afloat that putting money into baseball fields and baseball programs is not very realistic” (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN, 8/24).

HALO EFFECT: Angels CF Mike Trout said of becoming the new face of MLB, “Now that (Derek Jeter is) leaving, everybody's saying that I could be the face. I just like to go out there, have fun, smile and always respect the game” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 8/24).

TAKE A PICTURE: Fox' Troy Aikman, on teams using tablets on the sidelines: "The high-def quality of those tablets is outstanding because the Polaroids were always dark and to be able to get the information that quickly and look at it on the spot is pretty cool. You wonder why they didn't get to it sooner. … The reason they probably haven't had it earlier is because they didn’t have a sponsorship deal" ("Chargers-49ers," Fox, 8/24). ABC’s Kevin Harlan, on NFL referees using tablets for replay challenges: “Pretty soon they’re talking about bringing tablets out to the field. No more hood” (“Redskins-Ravens,” ABC, 8/23).

ON DEMAND: Patriots President Jonathan Kraft, on NFL Now: “The thing that makes NFL Now so great for NFL fans is, in one location, in one app that you can see on any device … you’re going to have an application that’s going to aggregate the best content from all NFL sources that you would be interested in and bring it to you how you want it, where you want it, when you want it” (NFL.com, 8/24).

MSNBC's Donny Deutsch said of musicians reportedly being asked to pay the NFL to be the Super Bowl halftime act, “Any of these artists would pay because the reality of getting in front of a billion people … is the stage of the year" ("Morning Joe," MSNBC, 8/20). ESPN's J.A. Adande said of the NFL wanting musical acts to pay it to perform, “Come on NFL, you're making enough on the Super Bowl, you don’t need your halftime entertainment to pay you." ESPN's Bomani Jones added, "This is the single most arrogant thing I've heard of in my life. You're going to take people that sell bazillions of records and tell them they have to pay their own way” ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 8/19).

A STAR TOO BRIGHT: ESPN's Jason Whitlock said of Little Leaguer Mo’ne Davis being on the cover of SI, "That's too young. I start thinking about being a Hollywood child star and we're doing this to athletes now. … This is too much attention too early" ("PTI," ESPN, 8/19). MSNBC's Willie Geist said, "How cool is that, a 12-year-old girl on the cover of SI" ("Morning Joe," MSNBC, 8/20).

GETTING AN UPGRADE: NFL VP/Officiating Dean Blandino, on the new technology available to NFL referees: “I think the ultimate goal is to be more efficient and be more accurate and be more consistent” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 8/20).

POSITIVE ENERGY: Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer said of how much he would voice his opinion on league matters despite being a rookie owner, “I'm not a wilting flower so to speak. … I'm an energetic guy. I'm a positive guy. If I have something to say, I'll probably tell people I have something to say” (“NBA GameTime,” NBATV, 8/19).

GROWTH SPURT: U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said of the World Cup’s impact, "That's something we can carry forward and hopefully translate into long-term success, build on that for Major League Soccer, the U.S. National Team and the sport in general" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 8/19).

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, on the team’s name controversy: “The whole 15 years I was there I never once heard anything negative at all about the Redskin name. When we got a song, ‘Hail To The Redskins,’ it was about courage and pride and bravery” (“America’s Pregame,” FS1, 8/19).

AVOIDING THE HAZARD: Author and CBS Sports Radio host John Feinstein said of the modified FedExCup playoffs format, “It can be argued that the job Commissioner Tim Finchem did in convincing FedEx to put up tens of millions of dollars to become the umbrella sponsor, is as important as anything he has achieved in his 20-plus years on the job. There's still one big hurdle for the Tour to jump in the coming years, which is making the playoffs into a pool of competition and not just an entertaining TV show” (“Golf Central,” Golf Network, 8/18).

AVE, MARIA: Tennis player Maria Sharapova sat down with CNBC for an interview from her newest Sugarpova pop-up store in Manhattan to discuss the success of her candy business. She said, "We are very happy with the sales. We're in over 26 different markets around the world with exclusive distribution deals which is very unique after being on the market for only two years. We've still kept it very minimal and very unique too because when I started this, I wanted this to be a very project and something different than the market hasn't seen in the gummy world and we've created that and it's created this type of reaction" ("Squawk on the Street," CNBC, 8/19).

N.Y. Daily News’ Mike Lupica: “The election of the new baseball commissioner was like some weird baseball version of ‘Game of Thrones,’ just with a whole room of rich guys, some of them completely clueless about the best interest of the game.” ESPN’s Pablo Torre, on the biggest challenges Rob Manfred will face as commissioner: “The biggest problem is the sheer mortality of his customer base. The median viewer for nationally televised baseball games: Over 54, the highest of the three sports. That clock is ticking” (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN, 8/17). The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan said of the alternative to electing Manfred: “It’s just hard to imagine that you would want to go back to the bad old days of eight work stoppages between 1972 and 1994” (“The John Feinstein Show,” CBS Sports Radio, 8/15). CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman said, “What they really want to do is modernize the game even further with the technology. That’s basically where the focus is" (“MLB Now,” MLBN, 8/15).

SENDING A SIGNAL: 49ers' color analyst Tim Ryan, on Levi’s Stadium: “It's all about the Wi-Fi, bro, and it's strong in here.” S.F.-based KPIX-CBS Sports Dir Dennis O’Donnell, who had a fan demonstrate the stadium’s app allowing food to be delivered to seats, said, “I don’t have five minutes, I have 30 seconds. Buy some French fries” (“Broncos-49ers,” NFL Network, 8/17).

JUST SAY THE WORD: HBO's John Oliver, said of Little League P Mo’Ne, "This girl is incredible. Saying no to dumb questions from the media is a special weapon that everyone should use. 'Who are you wearing?' 'No!' 'What do you think of the 2016 candid…' No!' 'If you were a tree, what tree would you be?' 'No, no, no, no! '" ("Last Week Tonight With John Oliver," HBO, 8/17).

FANTASY ISLAND: ESPN.com’s Eric Karabell said of media organizations getting involved in daily fantasy sports, “It’s still a relatively untapped market and like anything else, people see money, they see the opportunity to grow the market with advertising and whatever else” (“OTL,” ESPN, 8/17).